Newcastle United expect to be without Dwight Gayle for ALL of their key promotion clashes in the next fortnight after initial assessments confirmed he faces another spell on the sidelines.

There is no chance of Gayle being involved on Saturday and United will also have to plan for critical games against Huddersfield, Brighton and Reading without their 20-goal top scorer, who has aggravated a hamstring problem and will not be rushed back into action despite the importance of those contests.

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Gayle reported to medical staff that he did not feel right in the early part of the Aston Villa game and there is a resolve at United not to rush him back and make the damage worse. This is the fourth time in 16 months that Gayle has had hamstring issues and Newcastle will not repeat the mistakes of the past and attempt to bring the forward back when there is still some doubt over his fitness.

It is a huge frustration for Gayle, who had felt good in training sessions before Monday’s game and played a part at Norwich too. He could miss up to five games, with Aleksandar Mitrovic set to fill in.

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It even may be that United’s game against Fulham – another difficult game given the Cottagers’ ability – comes too early for the striker.

Benitez has Mitrovic, Daryl Murphy and Ayoze Perez as frontline forward options – with Yoan Gouffran another option. There is no prospect of Adam Armstrong coming back from his loan at Barnsley, who play Huddersfield on Saturday.